Children More Likely to Accept Drug Use if Parents Admit Past Substance Use
Middle school students are less likely to think using drugs
is bad if their parents told them about their own past substance use, a
new study finds. Children whose parents warned them not to use drugs
were more likely to avoid them, ABC News reports.
The study by researchers at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign included 561 middle school students. They were less
likely to accept drug use if their parents set rules against drugs, and
told them about people who have gotten into trouble because of drugs.
“Parents should really hit on what are the bad things that can
happen, health-wise, from using drugs,” researcher Jennifer Kam told ABC
News. ”They should really clearly tell kids that they disapprove of
them using drugs. Also, give them strategies to avoid use or decline use
in a way that makes them look cool.”
She advised parents against lying. “I wouldn’t volunteer the
information, but if a child asks, and a parent lies, it could impact the
relationship later on,” she noted.
The study appears in the journal Human Communication Research.
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